The mother accused in the death of her young son earlier this week appeared in court Friday.
Nerlin Sarmiento, 32, appeared in an Edmonton courtroom Friday morning for election and plea.
The judge sent the mother to Alberta Hospital, and ordered Sarmiento to complete a 30 day psychiatric assessment to determine if she’s fit to stand trial.
She’s also been barred from communicating with her husband, her daughter and a third person.
The appearance came days after Sarmiento was charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 7-year-old son.
Police were called to the family’s apartment suite, in a building located on 109 Street and 53 Avenue by paramedics, who had been called to the home for a reported child in medical distress.
The little boy was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead – sources told CTV News the child drowned.
An autopsy was conducted that day, where the Medical Examiner confirmed the death was murder.
CTV News confirmed the boy’s identity Thursday as Omar Jajoy.
Friday’s court appearance came after Sarmiento’s husband, Florentino Jajoy, released a statement – which said the accused was under psychiatric treatment, and had been diagnosed with depression.
In Jajoy’s statement, he said the family believes Sarmiento is innocent – saying she “was not responsible for her actions” and said the public health system failed the family, saying they trusted the system, “but it was not enough.”
The letter goes on to describe Nerlin Sarmiento as “a loving mother, wife and daughter who put her children’s needs before her own” but she was “not in her right state of mind and lost sight of herself under her prescribed medication.”
Sarmiento has been scheduled to appear in court on March 15.
